I was having nightmares last night about my oldest son. In Florida you have to fill out a 504 to get help if your child has special needs. Which my oldest needs extra help because of his dysgraphia. I’m trying to get everything in place BEFORE we go to a new school next year. The part that sucks the most is that he is too smart… hence he doesn’t fit into the mold that gets him ALL the help he needs. He can tie his shoes and button his shorts and read… Which makes occupational therapy through the school darn near close to impossible… and now there is a new ‘way’ to go called an RTE… which is what he really needs. That will allow him to give verbal answers on a test that all the other children give as written. Trust me, his writing is BOTTOM of the class and desperately in need of help. Because he has a neurological disorder… did you catch that? It is a real problem that cannot be solved by ‘time’.

I have been blessed this year to have a teacher that works with him and realizes he does know the answers even if the written answer suck. They are missing verbs, the words are twisted in the wrong order or spells words with all the right letters in the wrong order, he repeats a sentence… yaa, not a good situation. 504 will give him extra time on a test but not help him if he spells the words wrong or unreadable or any of the situations above. And for him to be able to give it verbal requires that RTE and that can take over a year to obtain and usually it has to be in the SEVERE category not the MODERATE. Did you catch that? My son is not mildly dysgraphic but MODERATE. Yet, not eligible for stuff from the school. Also, he is considered ‘gifted’ because he is so intelligent and THAT counts against him. Do me a favor and say some prayers. I’m going to need them to work this out. I want what is best for my son to make it through school and actually LEARN. Not be punished for being a square peg in a round hole. (blatantly stolen from Bou). Just pray the right answer comes my way before school starts in August! Thanks!

My 2nd grader had to write about one of his vacations. I suggested Disney World… which he immediately said no. Then he said he wanted to write about going to Mammaw’s house. When he started writing I was spelling Mammaw for him and he wanted to use her first name. I said no. I explained she was called that because we have Grandma and Pop. Then he said he wanted to write about Grandma and Pop. I must say I am pleasantly surprised how well this story is developing. He is writing a paragraph a night. He has so many nice things to say about his grandparents! I can’t wait til is done and then I’ll post it in it’s entirety. Still, the convoluted way he came to do it is beyond me. He is doing such a great job I can’t believe it wasn’t his first choice. I’m just happy he has such a wonderful feeling about his grandparents. Life is good.

On Saturday we went to our first karate tournament. It started with the youngest… in the forms. My youngest decided to do the hardest form he knew and had ONLY just learned a couple of weeks ago. I was happy when he got second… out of 11 other kids… some of higher belts! Here take a look!

Next was sparring. Sigh… I forgot to feed the youngest who has hypoglycemia. Yaa, you know where this is going don’t you. Here he is getting ready to spar:

He placed 4th out of 7. He had a complete meltdown. It took me over 30 minutes to figure out what was the problem. Ugh. I was too wrapped up in the tournament and all our friends who were in it. Live and learn. I’m sure he will do better next time.

Now for the oldest. His division was next. He had forms first. In the 7 to 10 year old group. He placed 4th out of 11. Here he is introducing himself:

He also sparred. He placed 2nd out of 10. Here he is with his 2nd place medal!

Yep, the boys loved it. Even the youngest said he wanted to do it again. And he promised not to have ‘a meltdown’. Yaa. He’ll need help on that one. The oldest was a GREAT sport. Congratulating everyone. I’m very proud of both kids! And the dojo! Everyone from our dojo got a trophy or medal (trophy was 1st, medal for 2nd and 3rd). What a great Saturday!

Ever searched for something on the web and got something totally different? I searched on short term and got short term health insurance NC. Strange. Of course I got more specific after that… I am still searching on dysgraphia stuff for my oldest son. I saw this paragraph out there:

Dysgraphia is a kind of disability where a person finds it difficult to write things. He has distorted writing. While writing, the afflicted person will commit spelling mistakes. Such people will also find it difficult to put their ideas across the paper.

And found it humorous because I have always had a hard time putting my ideas on paper. Oh, I can do it. But short and sweet. Writing this blog has been interesting. It has increased my writing skills… well ok, maybe not, but it certainly has me writing more. While I certainly do not have the problem my son has, I can understand his frustrations with it.

While looking for ‘short term help for dysgraphia’… ya ya, I finally typed it all out… I found this list:

* Allow use of print or cursive – whichever is more comfortable.
* Use large graph paper for math calculation to keep columns and rows organized.
* Allow extra time for writing assignments.
* Begin writing assignments creatively with drawing, or speaking ideas into a tape recorder
* Alternate focus of writing assignments – put the emphasis on some for neatness and spelling, others for grammar or organization of ideas.
* Explicitly teach different types of writing – expository and personal essays, short stories, poems, etc.
* Do not judge timed assignments on neatness and spelling.
* Have students proofread work after a delay – it’s easier to see mistakes after a break.
* Help students create a checklist for editing work – spelling, neatness, grammar, syntax, clear progression of ideas, etc.
* Encourage use of a spell checker – speaking spell checkers are available for handwritten work
* Reduce amount of copying; instead, focus on writing original answers and ideas
* Have student complete tasks in small steps instead of all at once.
* Find alternative means of assessing knowledge, such as oral reports or visual projects
* Encourage practice through low-stress opportunities for writing such as letters, a diary, making household lists or keeping track of sports teams.

It will soon be printed and posted up on the wall… to remind ME of what I need to do to help my son. It can be very frustrating. Even today trying to get him to write five vocabulary definitions. Ugh. We’ll get there, but with all that has been going on the last couple of weeks, it seems a little slow. Sigh. Too much on my plate even now that the yearbook is basically done. Sleep might help… yaa sleep and exercise. Need to get back on track. Breath, oh yaa… got to remember to breath.

We have succeeded in getting the Karate Spar Equipment for the boys. Heck, I woke up the other morning and they had put it on over their pajamas. This was the first day we got it:

And now for the older one:

Looking tough!

What a word huh? It runs in the family of Dyslexia. Ya, sounds more familiar huh? Well my oldest does not have ADD, nor dyslexia… he has dysgraphia. As it is… I’m tired, I have a field trip with 18 five year olds and not much else to say right now. More later when I get my life together.

I might need to look at more home insurance quotes if i keep letting my kids work in the yard. But isn’t he a cutie?

I love the hat and glasses! If that wasn’t enough, look at my oldest! Click to enlarge any of these.

The man with the truck is a friend of mine. He has a yard business and came over to cut some limbs and help get the yard cleaned up. The kids wanted to earn some extra money… win win situation. Of course being boys, they did want to pick up the little limbs… ohhhh noooo…

It was a great time by all this weekend. Just taking me a while to get all the photos and stuff together. I have such good kids. It makes me wonder how they can drive me over the edge so fast!

Just wanted to brag… my oldest child who is in 2nd grade… is finally figuring out how to take online tests. I am very proud of my son… here is his Reading Counts scores!

This blog is about my family and I hope when we look back in 4 years, this one will all make us smile. Of course, it had to be Diary of a Wimpy Kid that got that best score! hahahahaha…

It seems my children do much better when I give them lots of hugs and constantly touch them. Particularly the older one. This is so out of my realm. I am NOT a touchy feely person. Yet I have seen a huge difference in the older one if I just walk over and touch his arm. This is NOT easy or fun for me. I have to force myself to do it. Even though the rewards have been great, I find myself excited that school is in session. Talk about going ‘outside the box’… I’m so far out with this that I RUN back when given the chance. Sigh. Makes me feel like I’m a bad mommy. I’m not. I have good kids and they are turning out better than any mother could hope. But I just don’t want to constantly touch and be touched. It’s going to a long 12 years…